Automatic burglar, fire, or like alarm



21. 1940 E. R. MOWSTEPHEN 2,191,911

AUTOMATIC BURGLAR, FIRE, OR LIKE ALARM Filed Jan. 31, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I Feb. 27, 1940. NTST 2,191,971

AUTOMATIC BURGLAR, FIRE, on LIKE ALARM F1196 Ja n. 31, 1938 '5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ago Feb. 27, 1940.

E. R. MOUNTSTEPHEN AUTOIATIC BURGLAR, FIRE, 0R LIKE ALARM Filed Jan. 31, 1938 3 Shuts-Sheet 3 Flai Patented Feb. 27, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Edred Rabiolm Mountstephen,

Southend-on- Sea, England Application January 31, 1938, Serial No. 187,960 In Great Britain February 15, 1937 6 Claims.

This invention relates to automatic burglar and fire alarms and more particularly of the kind comprising a gramophone or like sound reproducing device operatively connected with a telephone and associated with means automatically to establish communication with a police, fire or other station and to transmit a suitable message or signal to said station upon the occurrence of a burglary or fire. An alarm of this kind is described in my co-pending application Serial The object of the present invention is to provide an alarm of this kind which discriminates between fire and burglary, that is to say which is designed automatically to produce and transmit an appropriate alarm message or signal according to whether a burglary or fire has occurred, and the invention therefore consists broadly of an alarm apparatus of the kind wherego in upon the occurrence of an emergency, an alarm is transmitted over a telephone circuit to a receiving station, characterised in that provisison is made for the transmission of alternative alarm messages or signals according as the 25 emergency is occasioned by burglary or fire.

The preferred method by which the desiderata can be attained is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the alarm according to the aforesaid co-pending application as modified in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a part sectional elevation of the modified part of the apparatus according to the present invention looking in the direction of the 35 arrow II in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 2, and Figure 4 is a diagram of the wiring circuit.

Referring first to Figure 1 the general opera 40 tion of the alarm device there illustrated is as follows: An electromagnet 5 is energised by mechanical action in any known manner, upon the unauthorised opening of a door, window, safe or the like or by the action of a thermostat upon an abnormal rise in temperature, whereby trip mechanism 6, I is operated and a weighted lever 8 thereby released. The lever 8 then falls and during its fall first moves a catch 9 out of engagement with a stop I0 on the gramophone turntable to start the gramophone motor and then closes a switch H to connect the alarm de vice with the telephone system. The gramophone motor thus being set into operation drives transmission mechanism indicated generally at II, which then operates the dialling mechanism Hi to establish communication with the desired station, after which the sound box It is gradually lowered onto the sound record, whereupon the alarm message or signal is transmittedto the police, fire, or other station with which com I! munication has been established. When the sound box [4 reaches the end of its travel across the record it is then lifted and returned to the commencement of the record when the alarm message or signal is again produced and transl0 mitted to the desired station. This operation is repeated continuously until the gramophone motor runs down when a knife switch l5, controlled by the governor of the gramophone motor, operates to close the circuit of an electromagnet l6 which is thus energised and releases a catch ll whereby the switch It is opened and the device thus disconnected from the telephone system.

The construction, arrangement and operation of the various parts above referred to is as described in detail in the aforesaid co-pending application.

According to the illustrated embodiment of the present invention the sound record is provided with two separate recordings or messages, one appropriate to burglary on the first half of the record and another appropriate to fire on the second half of the record and spring actuated, mechanism is provided which, in the event of fire, is automatically set into operation to move the sound box from its normal position above to commencement of the first half of the record, to a second position above the commencement of the second half of the record before being lowered onto the said record in the usual way. This mechanism is set into operation by an electromagnet l8 which is arranged in the circuit of a thermostat or the like which, upon an abnormal rise in temperature, closes the circuit of the electromagnet l8 (as well as the electromagnet 4o 1 5), which is thus energised and releases a trip to set into operation the spring actuated mechanism which is shown more clearly in Figures 2 and 3.

Referring more specifically toFigures 2 and 3, 46 the sound box unit, comprising the sound box, tone arm and microphone housing, preferably of the character described in my co-pending application Serial No. 172,462, is mounted on a vertical rod 19 rotatably mounted in a member 20 50 which is itself pivoted at 2| to a bracket 22, whereby said tone arm unit can pivot both in a horizontal plane, to enable the sound box to move across the sound record, and in a vertical plane, to enable the sound box to be lowered onto and liited from said record. On the lower end of the rod I8 is a cross-bar l8a or the like which,

when the sound box is in its raised positionabove the sound record, lies parallel to and engages a plate member 23. The plate member 22 is secured to a sleeve 24 rigidly mounted on shaft 25 which extends through the base plate 28 of the apparatus and is rotatably mounted in a bracket 21 and the base plate 26. Rigidly secured on the shaft 25, below the base plate 26 is a second sleeve 28 from which extends a radial arm 29, the outer free end of which engages the armature 30 of the electromagnet l8 and is normally held pressed against said armature by a spring 3|.

In the normal position of the parts, as shown in full and dotted lines in Figure 3, the sound box is located above the commencement of the first half of the sound record, that is to say above that part of the record containing the recording or message appropriate to burglary, and if a burglary occurs the electromagnet 5 only is energised and the gramophone motor is started, as described above, whereupon the alarm operates exactly as described in the co-pending application Serial No. 172,461. In the event of a fire, however, the electromagnet I8, as well as the electromagnet 5, is energised by the action of a thermostat whereupon the gramophone motor is started to effect the normal operation of the Kalarm and in addition the armature 30 of the electromagnet I8 is attracted and releases the arm 29 which is then moved by the spring 3| a stop 32. This angular movement of lthe arm 29 causes rotation of the shaft 25 which yin turn causes an angular movement of the plate member 23 which, due to its engagement with the "cross-bar l9a, rotates the rod l9 upon which {the sound box unit is mounted. Thus the sound box itself is moved over the sound record. The amount of movement of the parts 29, 25, 23 and 1 i8 is limited by the stop 32 and is such that the sound box I 4 is moved over only half the sound record. After the sound box has been moved into position above the commencement of the second half of the sound record in this way, it is lowered onto the record exactly as described in the oopending application.

It will be clear from the foregoing that if the alarm is set into operation by mechanical action, that is by the making or breaking of a circuit due to the unauthorised opening of a door, window, safe or the like, i. e. in the event of a burglary, the parts shown in Figure 3 remain in their normal position, shown in full and dotted lines, and the sound box is lowered onto the commencement of the first half of the record in the usual way but if the alarm is set into operation by thermal conditions, that is by the action of a thermostat or the like in the event of fire, the parts are moved into the position shown in chain dotted lines in Figure 3 by the spring 3!, the arm 29 being released by the electromagnet l8, before the sound box is lowered onto the commencement of the second half of the record.

The circuit of the alarm device shown diagrammatically in Figure 4 is. the same as in the copending application except that the additional electromagnet I8 is connected in series with the electromagnet 5, the arrangement being such that in the event of a burglary the contacts b, c are connected by a suitable switch (not shown) whereby the circuit of the electromagnet 5 only is closed but in the event of fire the contacts a, c are connected by a thermostat (not shown) whereby the circuit of the electromagnets I and i8 are closed.

Since the greater part of the mechanism which operates to select the alarm message or signal is located below the base plate 26 of the apparatus 5 (see Figure 2), it is necessary to provide an aperture in the base plate for giving access to the arm 25 so as to facilitate resetting after this am has been released by the electromagnet l8.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters 10 Patent is:

1. In combination, a gramophone turntable, a record disk on said turntable having a pair of annular record bands concentrically disposed, motor means for driving said turntable, a tone it arm carrying a sound box, a vertical shaft, a tone arm support mounted on said shaft, to swing in a horizontal plane, said tone arm being mounted pivotally on the support to swing in a vertical plane, means controlled by the motor means for 20 raising and lowering the tone arm, and means to cause rapid traverse-of the tone arm over the outer record band while the tone arm is raised.

2. In combination, a gramophone turntable, a

record disk on said turntable having a pair of 25 annular record bands concentrically disposed, motor means for driving said turntable, a tone arm carrying a sound box, a vertical shaft, a tone arm support mounted on said shaft to swing in a horizontal plane, said tone arm being mounted 30 pivotally on the support to swing in a vertical plane, means controlled by the motor means for raising and lowering the tone arm, means to cause rapid traverse of .the tone arm over the outer record band while the tone arm is raised, and 35 alarm circuit controlled means for rendering the last mentioned means inefiective.

3. In combination, a gramophone turntable, a record disk on said turntable having a pair of annular record bands concentrically disposed, 0

motor means for driving said turntable, a tone arm carrying a sound box, a vertical shaft, a tone arm support mounted on said shaft to swing in a horizontal plane, said tone arm being mounted pivotally on the support to swing in a vertical plane, means controlled by the motor means for raising and lowering the tone arm, an actuating arm operatively connected to the vertical shaft, a spring urging said actuating arm in a direction to move the sound box inwardly of the record disk, a latch member normally holding said actuating arm against movement by the spring, and an alarm circuit including an electromagnet acting when energized to trip the latch member and release the arm.

4. In combination, a gramophone turntable, a record disk on said turntable having a pair of annular record bands concentrically disposed, motor means for driving said turntable, latch means restraining the motor means from opera- 5.

tion, and an alarm circuit controlled magnet for releasing said latch means, a tone arm carrying a sound box, a vertical shaft, a tone arm support mounted on said shaft to swing in a horizontal plane, said tone arm being mounted pivotally on 5 tion, and an alarm circuit controlled magnet for releasing said latch means, a tone arm carrying a sound box, a vertical shaft, a tone arm support mounted on said shaft to swing in a horizontal plane, said tone am being mounted pivotally on the support to swing in a vertical plane, means controlled by the motor means for raising and lowering the tone arm, means to cause rapid traverse of the tone arm over the outer record band while the tone arm is raised, and alarm circuit controlled means for rendering the last mentioned means ineffective.

6. In combination, a gramophone turntable, a record disk on said turntable having a pair of annular record bands concentrically disposed, motor means for driving said turntable, latch means restraining the motor means from operation, and an alarm circuit controlled magnet for releasing said latch means, a tone arm carrying a sound box, a vertical shaft, a tone arm support mounted on said shaft to swing in a horizontal plane, said tone arm being mounted pivotally on the support to swing in a vertical plane, means controlled by the motor means for raising and lowering the tone arm, an actuating arm operatively connected to the vertical shaft, a spring urging said actuating arm in a direction to move the sound box inwardly of the record disk, a latch member normally holding said actuating arm against movement by the spring, and an alarm circuit including an electromagnet acting when energized to trip the latch member and release the alarm.

EDRED RABJOHN MOUNTSTEPHEN. 

